I’ve always loved to read, but I have to say that my love has only increased in the past couple of years. When I was a child, I devoured every book I could get my hands on. As a young adult and young parent, I would go ages without reading anything other than my morning quiet time Bible reading and a devotional, then I’d binge on something fiction. Only in the last few years have I discovered the discipline of intentional, habitual reading.

That intentional reading habit has led me to some really great books. As I looked back across 2018, several really stood out. So, what were my top picks from the year?

Fiction

Well, Julie Klassen, Elizabeth Camden, Patrick W. Carr, and Timothy Zahn all came out with much-anticipated sequels this year. And Tricia Goyer added to her London Chronicles series. All of those were wonderful treats, as always, and all of them continue to rank among my “favorite, will read whatever you write” authors.

But, I also made a new discovery this year: Rosemary M. White. Early in the year, I selected a book to review, only to discover it was book number two in a series. So, I decided to check A Name Unknown out of the library so I’d be prepared when I received A Song Unheard to review. Before I even finished the first book, I knew I wanted to own it to read, reread, and share. And, I was thrilled to know that An Hour Unspent was due out in the fall. (I got it for Christmas and started 2019 with that one!) Meanwhile, I checked her Ladies of the Manor series out of the library over teh fall and thoroughly enjoyed it – so when I recently found the first two books in the series on a sale rack, I snagged them quickly.

Another new discovery was Kristy Cambron when I read The Lost Castle for review. My 15-year-old daughter was even more hooked than I and immediately proceeded to check out a stack of her books. She loved every one!

Nonfiction

As for nonfiction, several books really stand out.

The first two are books that I would recommend without hesitation to anyone – and actually go further than recommend. I’d encourage them both. They are both incredibly useful for very different reasons, but they are definitely going to be rereads over the years.

1. Calming Angry Kids by Tricia Goyer: I reviewed it here, so I won’t rehash that review. But, I will revisit the encouragement to buy it, read it, then have extras on hand to give away. The focus is parenting, but I cannot express how helpful this book is for relationships in general. I would argue that this is Tricia’s best book, and that says a lot.
2. An Unhurried Life by Alan Fadling: My friend Joanna commented that she wants to underline and highlight every single word, and I agree! I had to read it very slowly and intentionally, and I still need to reread it. Oh, how convicting it was! Oh how much we miss because we are so hurried – and often we don’t even realize it. We’re just fitting in with the way things are when we should instead be breaking the mold and setting a new pattern.

But, there were several others as well. And, honestly, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these, either.

I came back again this year to Mark Buchanan. I read a couple of his, but Hidden in Plain Sight really stood out. Then there was Survival Guide for the Soul by Ken Shigematsu, another revisited author. Such nourishment and challenge! Not God Enough by J.D. Greear felt, on the surface, like an “easy” read because Greear, like Mark Buchanan, is so incredibly conversation. Yet, the direct and challenging content forced me to read it slowly, frequently stopping and take a look at my thoughts, habits, and attitudes.

Finally, I read a book entitled Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. This is not from a Christian perspective (I am increasingly intentional about working those in, too) and is more research-based, so the writing style was definitely different from what I’d learned to train my mind to process over the course of the year. But, it was a very enlightening read. My husband read it first and kept reading quotes, so I knew I needed to give it a go. Now, I’ve challenged both of my girls to read it. It offers such a valuable insight into the nature of introverts, and it is one I will probably review in coming weeks just to explore some of the valuable insight. If you are an introvert, it will help you understand yourself better. If you know and don’t understand an introvert, it will help you, too!

Of course, there were also the homeschool read-alouds, mostly re-reads by this time. But, still wonderful titles! We’re all looking forward to 2019. I just started Shadow Spinner with Steven, and Seven Daughters and Seven Sons is coming up next. Both rank among the girls’ all-time favorite read-alouds (and Seven Daughters and Seven Sons was a favorite among my siblings as well!). But, this past year, Steven couldn’t get enough of The Incredible Journey, and I always love reading The Master Puppeteer.

So, there you go – my favorites from 2018! You are welcome to join me on Goodreads to see the rest of the titles I enjoyed (you can check out my 2018 tags).